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Sunken City Capers #1
The Solid-State Shuffle
Almost a hundred years ago, a major terrestrial event reshaped the earth’s coastlines. Goodbye entire cities. Goodbye entire states. Goodbye entire countries. And when the authorities outlawed salvaging from these sunken sites, why say hello to a new breed of criminal: underwater reclamation specialists. Even a hundred years later, there’s still a whole lot of loot for the reclaiming.
But it’s not theft if you put it back, right?
After cracking an underwater vault in their first major heist in the Seattle Isles, Isa and her crew think they’re on easy street again—that is, if they can figure out what it is exactly they stole. A question, they soon learn, where their very lives hang in the balance.
Thrust into a high-stakes game of subterfuge and deception by the local mob boss, Isa and her crew must scramble to unravel the mystery of what is they stole while unseen forces move against them.
Harried. Threatened at every turn. Isa and her crew must stay one step ahead to stay alive.
Sunken City Capers is a fun post-apocalyptic series with no zombies, just criminals and mischievous ne’er-do-wells. Fans of heist novels/movies and strong female protagonists will likely enjoy this series.
Sunken City Capers Books:
- The Solid-State Shuffle, Book 1 (October 4, 2016)
- The Elgin Deceptions, Book 2 (November 1, 2016)
- Leverage, Book 3 (December 6, 2016)
- Book 4 to be announced soon!
But it’s not theft if you put it back, right?
After cracking an underwater vault in their first major heist in the Seattle Isles, Isa and her crew think they’re on easy street again—that is, if they can figure out what it is exactly they stole. A question, they soon learn, where their very lives hang in the balance.
Thrust into a high-stakes game of subterfuge and deception by the local mob boss, Isa and her crew must scramble to unravel the mystery of what is they stole while unseen forces move against them.
Harried. Threatened at every turn. Isa and her crew must stay one step ahead to stay alive.
Sunken City Capers is a fun post-apocalyptic series with no zombies, just criminals and mischievous ne’er-do-wells. Fans of heist novels/movies and strong female protagonists will likely enjoy this series.
Sunken City Capers Books:
- The Solid-State Shuffle, Book 1 (October 4, 2016)
- The Elgin Deceptions, Book 2 (November 1, 2016)
- Leverage, Book 3 (December 6, 2016)
- Book 4 to be announced soon!
270 pages, Kindle Edition
First published August 25, 2016
661 people are currently reading
2415 people want to read
About the author
Jeffrey A. Ballard
21 books125 followersJeffrey A. Ballard writes and lives in the Texas Hill Country just outside of Austin. From a small child he has always been fascinated with the ocean, leading him to earn a B.S. in Ocean Engineering from FAU and a M.S. in Acoustics from Penn State.
His overactive imagination followed him into academia, where he is currently a researcher at the University of Texas. Eventually, he circled back to a boyhood ambition of writing down all his daydreams. He writes daily now and has found a wonderful second life for his college textbooks.
You can learn more and sign up for his mailing list and news of his latest releases at www.jaballard.com.
His overactive imagination followed him into academia, where he is currently a researcher at the University of Texas. Eventually, he circled back to a boyhood ambition of writing down all his daydreams. He writes daily now and has found a wonderful second life for his college textbooks.
You can learn more and sign up for his mailing list and news of his latest releases at www.jaballard.com.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 79 reviews
March 12, 2017
It wasn't amazing but it also wasn't horrible, it kind of just was. At first Isa and Puo seemed like they would be really great engaging characters [i especially loved that Puo is gay/asexual] but by the end I didn't really end up attached to either of them. The heist plot was pretty solid but again, nothing really amazing. I'm glad I got it on instafreebie basically.
Also I didn't like how Isa seems like the kind of woman who automatically doesn't like other women [she seemed to have something mean to say about almost every other woman in the book, most of it based on their appearance] and also how she kept saying Winn was acting like a girl every time he was what she considered over emotional. This is why I don't read a lot of books by male authors, although at least an effort was made here to have a variety of female characters.
I haven't really decided whether I'm going to read the next one yet, maybe if I'm bored one day.
Also I didn't like how Isa seems like the kind of woman who automatically doesn't like other women [she seemed to have something mean to say about almost every other woman in the book, most of it based on their appearance] and also how she kept saying Winn was acting like a girl every time he was what she considered over emotional. This is why I don't read a lot of books by male authors, although at least an effort was made here to have a variety of female characters.
I haven't really decided whether I'm going to read the next one yet, maybe if I'm bored one day.
July 5, 2017
The heist story part of this book was fast-paced and fun, and really kept me guessing even after I thought I'd had it figured out. I also really enjoyed the character of Puo, the protagonist's best friend and tech buddy.
However, the protagonist herself and her love interest were both so irritating that if the heist plot hadn't been so interesting I would have dropped this book about halfway through. Isa is self-absorbed and awful to nearly everyone around her (especially other women) and for someone raised into crime she is TERRIBLE at not being noticed because she like can't resist being rude all the time. Winn's appearance is enough to suck all the joy out of any section he appears in. He is sullen and miserable and constantly either yelling or withdrawn. I have no idea what these two saw in each other.
However, the protagonist herself and her love interest were both so irritating that if the heist plot hadn't been so interesting I would have dropped this book about halfway through. Isa is self-absorbed and awful to nearly everyone around her (especially other women) and for someone raised into crime she is TERRIBLE at not being noticed because she like can't resist being rude all the time. Winn's appearance is enough to suck all the joy out of any section he appears in. He is sullen and miserable and constantly either yelling or withdrawn. I have no idea what these two saw in each other.
August 22, 2023
That was interesting, though I had higher hopes for it. I love heist/caper stories and on this front it delivered. The setting was also very interesting but terribly underutilized. It could have easily taken place in our world instead of the post-collapse one described here. The characters...
Well - Puo was awesome. Winn was terrible. The protagonist... was great when she was being professional and terrible when she was a lovesick teenager. Colvin was great, but the "proper" antagonists received too little screen-time and their motivations being described in an denouement fell rather flat.
The plot wasn't bad but I found myself phasing out of it at times. The ending was really good and tense and made me want to read more of the series.
Well - Puo was awesome. Winn was terrible. The protagonist... was great when she was being professional and terrible when she was a lovesick teenager. Colvin was great, but the "proper" antagonists received too little screen-time and their motivations being described in an denouement fell rather flat.
The plot wasn't bad but I found myself phasing out of it at times. The ending was really good and tense and made me want to read more of the series.
January 13, 2023
The opening of this book had an aggressively unapproachable mix of first and second person perspective going on in it, but I'm glad to say it didn't hang around. The story itself was in first-person present tense and told from the point of view of Isa, a 5'9" woman (not Amazonian!). Also along for the ride are Puo (a big ol' Samoan dude) and Winn (Isa's cataclysmically annoying lover, but - ah, excellent, he's Over Six Feet Tall, yay). Together they form a little salvage crew, one of the new breed of criminals that evolved to take advantage of the rising sea level and / or coastal shifts[1] that have put a bunch of cities underwater. Isa's the boss, Puo's the Guy in the Chair, and Winn is also there.
A fun heist on a submerged Seattle bank gives us the opportunity to see the crew in action. They're pretty good at what they do, except for the banter part of it. Their banter needs work. Oh, some of it is amusing but for the most part I have to say it was a bit lukewarm. The crew's mission is to make a bit of money and thus pay off the "Citizen Maker", essentially the dude who installed career chips for them. This "one last job to pay off the loan shark[2]" trope is of course familiar. What's different in this case is a) it's not one last job as far as Isa's concerned, this is her life; and b) the motivation is neither resolved nor conveniently forgotten about by the end, which is usually the case with the dude the protagonist owes money to at the start of the story. It just sort of ... hangs around as an unfinished thread. Not sure how I feel about that.
Anyway, the heist goes wrong - or rather it goes fine, but the solid-state drive[3] they steal turns out to not be holding digital money, but currency of another sort entirely. And it belongs to a powerful local crime Boss. Who then contracts Isa and her crew to get to the bottom of who took it. And things begin to get steadily more dangerous and complicated from then on.
The characters are nicely done. Puo is lovely as the loyal best friend with a heart of gold and nobody deserves him. His fun stories about make-believe animal species and events were a highlight of the book and the exception to what I said earlier about the banter needing polish. Isa is increasingly revealed to be profoundly broken and traumatised, and kind of an arsehole as a result but her story is a tragic and sympathetic one. Winn is equal parts relatable and a giant fucking pain in the arse who needs to get with the program. Hayes and his Squeeze are pitiable. The villains are appropriately cutout. All in all this was a fun mob heist adventure with some neat twists and turns, cool world-building and a good satisfying ending.
Sex-o-meter
We start our tale with Puo rating the sex Isa and Winn were having before the start of the book. Then Isa and Winn do an after-heist sex. Winn is a bit of a little bitch about everything if you must know the truth, but he fucks. Let's see, The Solid-State Shuffle looks to be settling at a Sexual Processing Unit out of a possible Buxom Access Mammary on the sex-o-meter. I don't even know what that means because I know nothing about sex or computers.
Gore-o-meter
A solid amount of gore in this one, as befits an organised crime action type narrative. Good shootouts and a nice spree for closure. Three quivering flesh-gobbets out of a possible five.
WTF-o-meter
There really wasn't much WTF here, it was all pretty explicable. Decently hard and tame sci-fi, in fact I'd say it was barely sci-fi at all - and not in a bad way. It was just a Mission Impossible or an Ocean's Eleven story set in the future[4], with a bit of adjusted setting and tech. One thing that did have me WTFing was the moment when, just after lecturing Colvin about not telling her things she needs to know, Isa doesn't tell him a fucking ton of stuff. I get that if she'd been less cagey, the story might have resolved sooner and less dramatically, and the secretiveness is justified given Isa's past and trust issues, but it still smacked of "so the story can happen". Still, that was it. This is getting a Tom Cruise hanging horizontally from some straps to do a cool secret agent move, out of a possible same thing except he is underwater so the straps are just in the way, and then a loan shark eats him because it is a literal shark that got into the predatory loans business after Seattle was submerged and it swam into a bank and the rest is history, also they're called apex predatory loans now.
My Final Verdict
This was alright! Look, I could go on at length about there being a certain painful something about a male author writing a female protagonist in first person narrative, but at least Isa didn't breast boobily. I didn't really need to know which parts of her were bare and which were dressed in ivy lace halter tops, but at least she didn't breast boobily. In fact one of the only references to her "girls" as far as I could see was actually a pretty funny scene (and the only reference to her breasts was a really dark one) so I'm going to give it my Mediocre White Man™ Seal of Approval. It's a literal seal that-
Three and a half stars. Let's bump it to four for Amazon and Goodreads. We're done here.
----
[1] Ballard isn't exactly forthcoming about what happened a hundred-odd years ago to put a bunch of human infrastructure underwater. Is that to avoid committing to the climate collapse issue and making his stupider readers unhappy, or just because the how and why isn't important and he didn't want his characters to info-dump about it when they probably wouldn't think or talk about it that much in the course of their workaday skullduggery? Let's assume it was the latter.
[2] And can we just pause for a moment and shake our heads in sad condemnation at the fact that Ballard somehow failed to make loan sharks a part of his underwater crime ecosystem? I should dock him a star for that.
[3] Aha! This is the "solid-state" part of the book title. Now where's the "shuffle"? Is it going to be a riff on the soft-shoe shuffle dance? A dance of crime? Or is it some kind of heist or grift lingo? The other book titles in this series are similar plays on existing terms, but they all seem to be different unless they all fit some theme I'm unaware of. Ah well.
[4] Hang on. Hang on. Ballard also missed the opportunity to make an "Ocean's Eleven" joke in this heist story that takes place in an ocean filled with submerged valuables? Ooh, so, what, are you too good to make that joke? Huh? Well lah-dee-dah, Mister Highbrow. Say goodbye to your five star rating, fucko[5].
[5] I'm kidding, I'm kidding. It was going to be a four anyway. But now I've definitely done too many footnotes.
A fun heist on a submerged Seattle bank gives us the opportunity to see the crew in action. They're pretty good at what they do, except for the banter part of it. Their banter needs work. Oh, some of it is amusing but for the most part I have to say it was a bit lukewarm. The crew's mission is to make a bit of money and thus pay off the "Citizen Maker", essentially the dude who installed career chips for them. This "one last job to pay off the loan shark[2]" trope is of course familiar. What's different in this case is a) it's not one last job as far as Isa's concerned, this is her life; and b) the motivation is neither resolved nor conveniently forgotten about by the end, which is usually the case with the dude the protagonist owes money to at the start of the story. It just sort of ... hangs around as an unfinished thread. Not sure how I feel about that.
Anyway, the heist goes wrong - or rather it goes fine, but the solid-state drive[3] they steal turns out to not be holding digital money, but currency of another sort entirely. And it belongs to a powerful local crime Boss. Who then contracts Isa and her crew to get to the bottom of who took it. And things begin to get steadily more dangerous and complicated from then on.
The characters are nicely done. Puo is lovely as the loyal best friend with a heart of gold and nobody deserves him. His fun stories about make-believe animal species and events were a highlight of the book and the exception to what I said earlier about the banter needing polish. Isa is increasingly revealed to be profoundly broken and traumatised, and kind of an arsehole as a result but her story is a tragic and sympathetic one. Winn is equal parts relatable and a giant fucking pain in the arse who needs to get with the program. Hayes and his Squeeze are pitiable. The villains are appropriately cutout. All in all this was a fun mob heist adventure with some neat twists and turns, cool world-building and a good satisfying ending.
Sex-o-meter
We start our tale with Puo rating the sex Isa and Winn were having before the start of the book. Then Isa and Winn do an after-heist sex. Winn is a bit of a little bitch about everything if you must know the truth, but he fucks. Let's see, The Solid-State Shuffle looks to be settling at a Sexual Processing Unit out of a possible Buxom Access Mammary on the sex-o-meter. I don't even know what that means because I know nothing about sex or computers.
Gore-o-meter
A solid amount of gore in this one, as befits an organised crime action type narrative. Good shootouts and a nice spree for closure. Three quivering flesh-gobbets out of a possible five.
WTF-o-meter
There really wasn't much WTF here, it was all pretty explicable. Decently hard and tame sci-fi, in fact I'd say it was barely sci-fi at all - and not in a bad way. It was just a Mission Impossible or an Ocean's Eleven story set in the future[4], with a bit of adjusted setting and tech. One thing that did have me WTFing was the moment when, just after lecturing Colvin about not telling her things she needs to know, Isa doesn't tell him a fucking ton of stuff. I get that if she'd been less cagey, the story might have resolved sooner and less dramatically, and the secretiveness is justified given Isa's past and trust issues, but it still smacked of "so the story can happen". Still, that was it. This is getting a Tom Cruise hanging horizontally from some straps to do a cool secret agent move, out of a possible same thing except he is underwater so the straps are just in the way, and then a loan shark eats him because it is a literal shark that got into the predatory loans business after Seattle was submerged and it swam into a bank and the rest is history, also they're called apex predatory loans now.
My Final Verdict
This was alright! Look, I could go on at length about there being a certain painful something about a male author writing a female protagonist in first person narrative, but at least Isa didn't breast boobily. I didn't really need to know which parts of her were bare and which were dressed in ivy lace halter tops, but at least she didn't breast boobily. In fact one of the only references to her "girls" as far as I could see was actually a pretty funny scene (and the only reference to her breasts was a really dark one) so I'm going to give it my Mediocre White Man™ Seal of Approval. It's a literal seal that-
Three and a half stars. Let's bump it to four for Amazon and Goodreads. We're done here.
----
[1] Ballard isn't exactly forthcoming about what happened a hundred-odd years ago to put a bunch of human infrastructure underwater. Is that to avoid committing to the climate collapse issue and making his stupider readers unhappy, or just because the how and why isn't important and he didn't want his characters to info-dump about it when they probably wouldn't think or talk about it that much in the course of their workaday skullduggery? Let's assume it was the latter.
[2] And can we just pause for a moment and shake our heads in sad condemnation at the fact that Ballard somehow failed to make loan sharks a part of his underwater crime ecosystem? I should dock him a star for that.
[3] Aha! This is the "solid-state" part of the book title. Now where's the "shuffle"? Is it going to be a riff on the soft-shoe shuffle dance? A dance of crime? Or is it some kind of heist or grift lingo? The other book titles in this series are similar plays on existing terms, but they all seem to be different unless they all fit some theme I'm unaware of. Ah well.
[4] Hang on. Hang on. Ballard also missed the opportunity to make an "Ocean's Eleven" joke in this heist story that takes place in an ocean filled with submerged valuables? Ooh, so, what, are you too good to make that joke? Huh? Well lah-dee-dah, Mister Highbrow. Say goodbye to your five star rating, fucko[5].
[5] I'm kidding, I'm kidding. It was going to be a four anyway. But now I've definitely done too many footnotes.
January 5, 2023
Disclaimer - I received a free copy of this book to review for the Self-Published Science Fiction Competition (SPSFC).
If you are looking for an action packed, multiple layer, suspense story then The Solid-State Shuffle is your book.
While this is listed as a science fiction book, and it does take place in a dystopian future, and there are a whole lot of made-up scientific gadgets and gizmos, this is really a futuristic version of The Sting. Instead of Newman as Henry Gondorff we have Isa leading the gang and Redford as Johnny Hooker is replaced by two cohorts, Puo and Winn.
In The Sting a couple of grifters steal a mob boss’s money. In The Solid-State Shuffle we have a trio of highly capable but entry level thieves stealing a mob boss’s memory stick that is filled with his deepest secrets. Thus starts a life and death adventure of cons, double crosses, and non-stop action.
Jeffrey Ballard’s book is extremely entertaining, tightly written, and full of tension but what makes it great are the bumbling heroes. They are extremely smart and capable and have an arsenal of sophisticated electronics. Unfortunately, they also have strained relationships, a past they are running from, and a habit of going from the frying pan into the fire, again and again and again.
Despite its lack of hard science or believable electronic wizardry, I enjoyed this book from cover to cover. Sometimes tension filled and sometimes humorous with a bit of a buddy movie and some love interest thrown in this book will grab you and not let go.
If you are looking for an action packed, multiple layer, suspense story then The Solid-State Shuffle is your book.
While this is listed as a science fiction book, and it does take place in a dystopian future, and there are a whole lot of made-up scientific gadgets and gizmos, this is really a futuristic version of The Sting. Instead of Newman as Henry Gondorff we have Isa leading the gang and Redford as Johnny Hooker is replaced by two cohorts, Puo and Winn.
In The Sting a couple of grifters steal a mob boss’s money. In The Solid-State Shuffle we have a trio of highly capable but entry level thieves stealing a mob boss’s memory stick that is filled with his deepest secrets. Thus starts a life and death adventure of cons, double crosses, and non-stop action.
Jeffrey Ballard’s book is extremely entertaining, tightly written, and full of tension but what makes it great are the bumbling heroes. They are extremely smart and capable and have an arsenal of sophisticated electronics. Unfortunately, they also have strained relationships, a past they are running from, and a habit of going from the frying pan into the fire, again and again and again.
Despite its lack of hard science or believable electronic wizardry, I enjoyed this book from cover to cover. Sometimes tension filled and sometimes humorous with a bit of a buddy movie and some love interest thrown in this book will grab you and not let go.
February 6, 2021
I thought this was YA fiction, but it was definitely more on the adult side. Lots of sexual innuendos. There is also a relationship between a 26 year old women and I believe 38 year old man. This is a semi post apocalyptic story where tsunamis happened and Seattle is lots of islands now. Lots of tech stuff, but not super futuristic. The main character, Isa, and her two crewmates are Puo and Winn. Pho is like a brothers and there is some fun banter between the two and Winn is her love interest as well as crew member. Isa runs the group and they are scam artists. It makes me think of the old movie The Sting with Robert Redford. It's action packed with some fun twists of who is scamming who.
Read
September 15, 2024I love crew stories and was excited by the promise of a post-apocalyptic world that is not riddled with depression or zombies. In addition, the premise of this world with underwater black market salvage sounded fascinating.
However, the humor was too crass in the opening pages for me. This was a DNF because of content, not quality.
However, the humor was too crass in the opening pages for me. This was a DNF because of content, not quality.
Read
October 24, 2018DNF
November 1, 2024
Full review: https://girlswithguns.org/solid-state...
Isa, who’s the main protagonist and the first person perspective, is a mouthy b*tch to put it mildly. It’s a personality trait which gets her into trouble and renders her mostly unlikable, since the targets of her poison tongue are not always deserving. Then there’s Winn, her lover and newest member of the gang, who is too angsty for my tastes, suffering a perpetual crisis of conscience over their activities. Finally, we have Puo, who is the technical support. I just wish the tech support people I have to work with were one-tenth as supernaturally competent, managing to get the drop on even those supposedly more skilled. At least the author ended the story without a cliffhanger. Take your positives where you can.
Isa, who’s the main protagonist and the first person perspective, is a mouthy b*tch to put it mildly. It’s a personality trait which gets her into trouble and renders her mostly unlikable, since the targets of her poison tongue are not always deserving. Then there’s Winn, her lover and newest member of the gang, who is too angsty for my tastes, suffering a perpetual crisis of conscience over their activities. Finally, we have Puo, who is the technical support. I just wish the tech support people I have to work with were one-tenth as supernaturally competent, managing to get the drop on even those supposedly more skilled. At least the author ended the story without a cliffhanger. Take your positives where you can.
September 30, 2016
I received Solid-State Shuffle as a free copy from the author. The gifting did not determine the review/rating, which reflects my honest opinion. This novel was a delightful surprise. Some of the underwater opening chapter made me hesitate, as there was a lot of detail and I worried I'd be bogged down in minutia with out character development (obviously, there's a fan base for this as other writers are noted for their verbosity and have a huge following)-- I'm happy to report, this writer found an excellent balance between world-building, characters, and plot. The pacing was fast, the story line was smart and well thought out, and the characters were well-drawn. I'm definitely interested in the next book of the series.
September 1, 2023
“The Solid-State Shuffle” (Sunken City Capers #1) by Jeffrey A Ballard ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Genre: Post Apocalyptic. Location: The Seattle Islands (what used to be Seattle, Washington, USA) Time: 100 years after a megaquake, tsunamis, and new volcanic range caused the earth’s coastline to collapse.
THE SERIES: Salvaging now-underwater cities is outlawed, but that just created criminal Underwater Reclamation Specialists. Like Isa (26) and her partners Puo and Winn. They just moved to Queen Anne Island. Isa and Puo are Legacy (born criminals with no Citizen Chips). Winn, a former surgeon, is new to the trade. There’s a lot of treasure in Puget Sound.
THIS BOOK: Isa, Puo, and Winn get phony Citizens Chips to make them more legit. Payment is due to the Citizen Maker, so they need money-fast. Slipping through the watery tunnels of the former Seattle Underground, they steal a hard drive from the underwater Pacific View Bank. When mob boss James Colvin asks them to find his missing hard drive, they’re stuck between a rock and a hard place. Were they set up? By whom? Threatened at every turn, they must stay one step ahead to stay alive.
Author Ballard creates a new world in a Seattle split into islands by the rising coastline. There’s The Center Island from about 13th into the Central Area, and Queen Anne Island; and Mercer Island is still there. I lived in “The Center Island” for a long time, and I’m in love with this watery Seattle.
Ballard creates a snarky, hard-driving female lead-he really understands how to write a female character! He adds a super-talented partner who provides a little levity amidst all the action. His descriptions of houses, neighborhoods, etc are interesting and relevant. It was kind of hard for me to keep track of who was setting up who and why-but It’s still 4 stars from me!🌵📚💁🏼♀️ Thank you to Crave Books, New Rochester Publishing, and Jeffrey A Ballard for this ecopy.
THE SERIES: Salvaging now-underwater cities is outlawed, but that just created criminal Underwater Reclamation Specialists. Like Isa (26) and her partners Puo and Winn. They just moved to Queen Anne Island. Isa and Puo are Legacy (born criminals with no Citizen Chips). Winn, a former surgeon, is new to the trade. There’s a lot of treasure in Puget Sound.
THIS BOOK: Isa, Puo, and Winn get phony Citizens Chips to make them more legit. Payment is due to the Citizen Maker, so they need money-fast. Slipping through the watery tunnels of the former Seattle Underground, they steal a hard drive from the underwater Pacific View Bank. When mob boss James Colvin asks them to find his missing hard drive, they’re stuck between a rock and a hard place. Were they set up? By whom? Threatened at every turn, they must stay one step ahead to stay alive.
Author Ballard creates a new world in a Seattle split into islands by the rising coastline. There’s The Center Island from about 13th into the Central Area, and Queen Anne Island; and Mercer Island is still there. I lived in “The Center Island” for a long time, and I’m in love with this watery Seattle.
Ballard creates a snarky, hard-driving female lead-he really understands how to write a female character! He adds a super-talented partner who provides a little levity amidst all the action. His descriptions of houses, neighborhoods, etc are interesting and relevant. It was kind of hard for me to keep track of who was setting up who and why-but It’s still 4 stars from me!🌵📚💁🏼♀️ Thank you to Crave Books, New Rochester Publishing, and Jeffrey A Ballard for this ecopy.
July 26, 2017
I was pretty excited when I won this in a GR giveaway!
For some reason, I love the thought of diving- never mind the fact I can’t swim, and watching diver’s go into underwater caves on tv freaks me out, it’s the whole thought of another world under the sea that I will never get to see (except at the aquarium) that I think is so cool. It’s also a great backdrop for my other favorite thing, which is, heist stories!
The book had a great opening with our mc and her team, pulling a job in an underwater part of the city (such a cool premise), and things just never let up from there.
The story is a little light on the characterisation, and world-building side, but being first in a series, I am hoping for more rounding out of those things as it goes.
I was also a little worried about the kick-ass female lead because they all are kind of the same…you know… prickly, tough, sarcastic, beautiful. And yeah, she wasn’t much different than the multitude of others but, I ended liking her anyway(most of the time). I do wish we had more scenes with her, like with the neighbor, or with Winn at the end, though…things that showed her more likeable side.
The heist, was the best part of the story- very twisty, smart people, and cool gadgets; everything I love in a heist. It also moved quick, and kept you guessing, making it very hard to put the book down.
The book was really fun, had some good humorous moments, and was perfect for an afternoon of relaxing and getting swept up in a great read.
I’d love to give this a five star for the un-putdownable part of the story but there were a few irritating things about the lead and her boyfriend that are knocking it back to four stars.
I am definitely continuing on with this series though, it’s just to entertaining not to.
For some reason, I love the thought of diving- never mind the fact I can’t swim, and watching diver’s go into underwater caves on tv freaks me out, it’s the whole thought of another world under the sea that I will never get to see (except at the aquarium) that I think is so cool. It’s also a great backdrop for my other favorite thing, which is, heist stories!
The book had a great opening with our mc and her team, pulling a job in an underwater part of the city (such a cool premise), and things just never let up from there.
The story is a little light on the characterisation, and world-building side, but being first in a series, I am hoping for more rounding out of those things as it goes.
I was also a little worried about the kick-ass female lead because they all are kind of the same…you know… prickly, tough, sarcastic, beautiful. And yeah, she wasn’t much different than the multitude of others but, I ended liking her anyway(most of the time). I do wish we had more scenes with her, like with the neighbor, or with Winn at the end, though…things that showed her more likeable side.
The heist, was the best part of the story- very twisty, smart people, and cool gadgets; everything I love in a heist. It also moved quick, and kept you guessing, making it very hard to put the book down.
The book was really fun, had some good humorous moments, and was perfect for an afternoon of relaxing and getting swept up in a great read.
I’d love to give this a five star for the un-putdownable part of the story but there were a few irritating things about the lead and her boyfriend that are knocking it back to four stars.
I am definitely continuing on with this series though, it’s just to entertaining not to.
August 22, 2023
The Solid-State Shuffle (I love the book title) is the first book in the Sunken City Capers by Jeffrey A. Ballard. It takes place sometime in the future when some sort of catastrophe causes the earth’s oceans to rise.
I liked the characters, although I found that the love interest Winn could have used a little more background. There are hints here and there, but I found it difficult to figure out his motivation for staying with Isa. Puo is an interesting character, kind of a sidekick with some mystery and quirks.
The story is a good old fashion heist, with layers of subterfuge thrown in for good measure. Getting possession of an item is one thing, but making the money from it seems to be the problem here. I did find the general motivation of criminal greed somewhat repetitive, although all the villains have their own agendas.
I thought the worldbuilding was well done. There is a combination of familiar and unique. The overtones of a post-apocalyptic world from climate problems along with the combination of government and criminal organization proves to be a good foundation for creative storytelling.
The characters all have motivations, although I felt they could have been stronger. I’m interested to see if these might be further developed in the subsequent stories.
Overall, The Solid-State Shuffle is a good introduction into the series, although I feel there was some room to dive a little deeper (pun intended). It was a good read, four of five strs on Goodreads.
I liked the characters, although I found that the love interest Winn could have used a little more background. There are hints here and there, but I found it difficult to figure out his motivation for staying with Isa. Puo is an interesting character, kind of a sidekick with some mystery and quirks.
The story is a good old fashion heist, with layers of subterfuge thrown in for good measure. Getting possession of an item is one thing, but making the money from it seems to be the problem here. I did find the general motivation of criminal greed somewhat repetitive, although all the villains have their own agendas.
I thought the worldbuilding was well done. There is a combination of familiar and unique. The overtones of a post-apocalyptic world from climate problems along with the combination of government and criminal organization proves to be a good foundation for creative storytelling.
The characters all have motivations, although I felt they could have been stronger. I’m interested to see if these might be further developed in the subsequent stories.
Overall, The Solid-State Shuffle is a good introduction into the series, although I feel there was some room to dive a little deeper (pun intended). It was a good read, four of five strs on Goodreads.
December 2, 2021
I read The Solid-State Shuffle as part of a judging team for the Self-Published Science Fiction Competition. If you enjoy heist stories and snarky protagonists, this one may be worth a look.
Personally, I’m a bit weary of snarky protagonists, and The Solid-State Shuffle’s Isa was a particularly egregious example, mocking everyone she saw (mostly based on appearance or emotionality—“mansies” was used quite a few times) and often getting herself into trouble because she couldn’t keep her mouth shut even when confronting powerful criminals. She was unpleasant enough that I probably wouldn’t have read past the first few chapters if not for my judging role, and it made it hard to care too much about her relationships (romantic or otherwise).
On the other hand, the plot was pretty nicely done. A snappy narration kept things moving along quickly, and while we knew pretty early that the main characters were being set up, the questions of who, how, and why remained puzzling for most of the book. If I cared about the main character at all, it’d have been an easy four stars based on the pacing and plot intrigue.
This one reads shorter than the advertised 275 pages, and if you’re looking for a fun, fast-paced heist novel (and you don’t mind a lot of lip from the lead), it’s definitely worth a look.
First impression: 13/20. Full review and official SPSFC score to come at www.tarvolon.com
Personally, I’m a bit weary of snarky protagonists, and The Solid-State Shuffle’s Isa was a particularly egregious example, mocking everyone she saw (mostly based on appearance or emotionality—“mansies” was used quite a few times) and often getting herself into trouble because she couldn’t keep her mouth shut even when confronting powerful criminals. She was unpleasant enough that I probably wouldn’t have read past the first few chapters if not for my judging role, and it made it hard to care too much about her relationships (romantic or otherwise).
On the other hand, the plot was pretty nicely done. A snappy narration kept things moving along quickly, and while we knew pretty early that the main characters were being set up, the questions of who, how, and why remained puzzling for most of the book. If I cared about the main character at all, it’d have been an easy four stars based on the pacing and plot intrigue.
This one reads shorter than the advertised 275 pages, and if you’re looking for a fun, fast-paced heist novel (and you don’t mind a lot of lip from the lead), it’s definitely worth a look.
First impression: 13/20. Full review and official SPSFC score to come at www.tarvolon.com
June 19, 2023
(This review originally appeared at HistoryThatNeverWas.com)
Solid-State Shuffle by Jeffrey A. Ballard is an action-packed, high-stakes heist novel set in a post-ocean rise Seattle. With a fun cast of main characters and hints at an intriguing backstory, the prose will carry you along through the book.
Isa and her team, consisting of her brother-from-another-mother Puo and her lover Winn, are high-tech thieves, hired to steal a hard drive. But things go awry when they realize the allegedly secure underwater vault has already been breached. And the problems only snowball from there.
It’s always interesting to me to see Seattle through the eyes of an author who lives halfway across the country. I felt like there were a lot of missed opportunities to namedrop landmarks that a local author would have included. (The Space Needle is on the cover, but it doesn’t come up in the story at all.) I also thought there was some overwrought description here and there. But the characters and plot were solid, despite these other issues.
If you like heists and post-apocalyptic settings that don’t involve zombies or other monsters, you might enjoy Solid-State Shuffle. And if you do, it’s the first book in a complete series of five (plus a novelette), so there’s plenty more after this book!
Solid-State Shuffle by Jeffrey A. Ballard is an action-packed, high-stakes heist novel set in a post-ocean rise Seattle. With a fun cast of main characters and hints at an intriguing backstory, the prose will carry you along through the book.
Isa and her team, consisting of her brother-from-another-mother Puo and her lover Winn, are high-tech thieves, hired to steal a hard drive. But things go awry when they realize the allegedly secure underwater vault has already been breached. And the problems only snowball from there.
It’s always interesting to me to see Seattle through the eyes of an author who lives halfway across the country. I felt like there were a lot of missed opportunities to namedrop landmarks that a local author would have included. (The Space Needle is on the cover, but it doesn’t come up in the story at all.) I also thought there was some overwrought description here and there. But the characters and plot were solid, despite these other issues.
If you like heists and post-apocalyptic settings that don’t involve zombies or other monsters, you might enjoy Solid-State Shuffle. And if you do, it’s the first book in a complete series of five (plus a novelette), so there’s plenty more after this book!
September 9, 2017
A global seismic event has reshaped earth’s coastlines; whole cities and even some countries are underwater. When authorities ban salvage of the sunken cities, a new profession arises, underwater reclamation specialists—scavengers.
When Isa Schmidt and her crew, on their first major job in the Seattle area, find an item in a sunken bank vault, they know they have something valuable and important, they just don’t know what it is. Moreover, the item belongs to Seattle’s crime boss, and he wants it back, along with the head of whoever took it. Isa must figure a way to return the stolen item without being identified as the thief, a quest complicated by the fact that there are people who want to depose the crime boss, and use her as the patsy in the process.
The Solid-State Shuffle by Jeffrey A. Ballard is a hilarious piece of post-apocalyptic fiction that will have you in stitches as you follow Isa and her team in their sometimes bumbling efforts to return a stolen article, unmask the true villains, and stay alive. There are bits of violence, and the language is salty, but mostly, it’s just a pleasant, and rib-tickling read.
When Isa Schmidt and her crew, on their first major job in the Seattle area, find an item in a sunken bank vault, they know they have something valuable and important, they just don’t know what it is. Moreover, the item belongs to Seattle’s crime boss, and he wants it back, along with the head of whoever took it. Isa must figure a way to return the stolen item without being identified as the thief, a quest complicated by the fact that there are people who want to depose the crime boss, and use her as the patsy in the process.
The Solid-State Shuffle by Jeffrey A. Ballard is a hilarious piece of post-apocalyptic fiction that will have you in stitches as you follow Isa and her team in their sometimes bumbling efforts to return a stolen article, unmask the true villains, and stay alive. There are bits of violence, and the language is salty, but mostly, it’s just a pleasant, and rib-tickling read.
July 25, 2021
The story was a fun read, and moved at a good pace, but the characters could’ve been fleshed out a bit more. They weren’t one dimensional, but they weren’t quite three dimensional either.
The good –
The story is resolved by the end, so the reader isn’t left dangling on a cliff-hanger. (I personally hate cliff-hangers and a story will always lose a star if it ends that way.) This is the first in a series, and the author gives you chapter 1 of the next book to hook you into book 2. In my opinion it’s a smart way to retain readers.
The not so good –
The story needs editing. There are some typos, but there are a lot of structural issues, and annoying mistakes throughout. For example – If a character says something out loud but hasn’t realised it, the words still need to be in quotes, not italics.
We’re in the head of the protagonist all the way through the story so there’s no need for “I say” after her dialogue, and definitely no need for brackets around any of her thoughts. If you need to use anything, use em dashes.
There are some other issues, but a good editor would be able to sort them out.
The good –
The story is resolved by the end, so the reader isn’t left dangling on a cliff-hanger. (I personally hate cliff-hangers and a story will always lose a star if it ends that way.) This is the first in a series, and the author gives you chapter 1 of the next book to hook you into book 2. In my opinion it’s a smart way to retain readers.
The not so good –
The story needs editing. There are some typos, but there are a lot of structural issues, and annoying mistakes throughout. For example – If a character says something out loud but hasn’t realised it, the words still need to be in quotes, not italics.
We’re in the head of the protagonist all the way through the story so there’s no need for “I say” after her dialogue, and definitely no need for brackets around any of her thoughts. If you need to use anything, use em dashes.
There are some other issues, but a good editor would be able to sort them out.
December 26, 2017
A group of thieves are hired to figure out who stole something which they happen to steal. Should be interesting, right?
This book was a definite mismatch. I should have payed more attention to the sunken city part because the first 2 chapters involved scuba diving and for someone who hates water, it was excruciating. There was also a lot of talk about Cleaners and their squeegees which, I think, were they people who would find a way to erase thieves from video surveillance, but I couldn't say for sure. I don't read for technical stuff.
Lastly, the characters weren't all that likable. The main character was so unwomanly that changing the pronouns wouldn't change the story much. The rest were so secretive (guess it was the whole underworld thing) that I never felt anything for the other characters.
I received a free copy of this book for review so I did feel obligated to finish it or I might have stopped twice. It wasn't a badly written book, it just wasn't for me.
This book was a definite mismatch. I should have payed more attention to the sunken city part because the first 2 chapters involved scuba diving and for someone who hates water, it was excruciating. There was also a lot of talk about Cleaners and their squeegees which, I think, were they people who would find a way to erase thieves from video surveillance, but I couldn't say for sure. I don't read for technical stuff.
Lastly, the characters weren't all that likable. The main character was so unwomanly that changing the pronouns wouldn't change the story much. The rest were so secretive (guess it was the whole underworld thing) that I never felt anything for the other characters.
I received a free copy of this book for review so I did feel obligated to finish it or I might have stopped twice. It wasn't a badly written book, it just wasn't for me.
May 26, 2017
Almost 100 years ago, a major natural disaster even reshaped the Earth's coastlines. Goodbye entire cities, states and countries. And when authorities outlaw salvaging from the lost cities, a whole new breed of criminal turned up.
Isa and her crew are under water reclamation specialists. Aka, scavengers. The just did a major heist in the Seatle Isles that might just put them on easy street, if they can even figure out what it is they stole. A question, they soon learn, where their very lives hang in the balance!
I really got a kick out of this book. Sharp wit, sassy characters, plenty of tense action and with an absorbing plot. There were a few spots where the wording was a little confusing, but it was easy to get around it. The tech / sci-fi parts of the book were creative. The author never bogs you down with minute details on how the tech works, keeping it light and simple.
I enjoyed this book and thought it was an interesting start to the series. I will check out the next book in the series.
Isa and her crew are under water reclamation specialists. Aka, scavengers. The just did a major heist in the Seatle Isles that might just put them on easy street, if they can even figure out what it is they stole. A question, they soon learn, where their very lives hang in the balance!
I really got a kick out of this book. Sharp wit, sassy characters, plenty of tense action and with an absorbing plot. There were a few spots where the wording was a little confusing, but it was easy to get around it. The tech / sci-fi parts of the book were creative. The author never bogs you down with minute details on how the tech works, keeping it light and simple.
I enjoyed this book and thought it was an interesting start to the series. I will check out the next book in the series.
January 27, 2021
The story in principle is a good one - thieves do a job, and everything goes tits up - so this should have been a tense thrill ride. However the execution just isn't there. For me it's like eating a margarita pizza, somewhat tasty and a decent meal, but not the delicious explosion of taste and subtlety that you could have from a pizza with toppings.
Part of the reason for this is that the characters aren't engaging. They should be. A badass street smart thief, an asexual tech guru and an ex-surgeon turned con. But that's it, after reading the book I know so little else about them. In fact the most attached I got to a character was reading the spoiler chapter for the next book. (I really hate when authors/publishers do that).
I would suggest to the author that they spend less time describing things and more time on "doing" scenes. But it's just my two pence here. Overall, a good read, but not a great one.
Part of the reason for this is that the characters aren't engaging. They should be. A badass street smart thief, an asexual tech guru and an ex-surgeon turned con. But that's it, after reading the book I know so little else about them. In fact the most attached I got to a character was reading the spoiler chapter for the next book. (I really hate when authors/publishers do that).
I would suggest to the author that they spend less time describing things and more time on "doing" scenes. But it's just my two pence here. Overall, a good read, but not a great one.
August 11, 2025
This is the first book in the Sunken City Capers by Jeffrey A. Ballard. Isa is an underwater reclamation specialist set in a future where rising seas have swallowed entire cities and reshaped the world’s coastlines. Isa and her crew consist of her brother Puo and her lover Winn is hired to steal a high-tech hard drive from the underwater Pacific View Bank in the Seattle Isles. Isa and her crew try to unravel the truth, being threatened by the mob, double-crosses, and high-tech intrigue could be the last thing they do. This underwater and action-adventure story with clever cons and tech-savvy schemes with a sharp witted heroine is a great read. I really enjoyed this fantastic fast-paced post-apocalyptic sci-fi novel.
August 16, 2025
This is the first book in the Sunken City Capers by Jeffrey A. Ballard. Isa is an underwater reclamation specialist set in a future where rising seas have swallowed entire cities and reshaped the world’s coastlines. Isa and her crew consist of her brother Puo and her lover Winn is hired to steal a high-tech hard drive from the underwater Pacific View Bank in the Seattle Isles. Isa and her crew try to unravel the truth, being threatened by the mob, double-crosses, and high-tech intrigue could be the last thing they do. This underwater and action-adventure story with clever cons and tech-savvy schemes with a sharp witted heroine is a great read. I really enjoyed this fantastic fast-paced post-apocalyptic sci-fi novel.
February 26, 2023
Well, this one was boring...
Not sure why, but I had high hopes for this book. The plot sounded interesting and I've read the author before, so my expectations were... well, I wouldn't way 'high', but higher than average.
Well, it was boring. Forgettable. Annoying. Overall, meh.
Maybe I just wasn't in the mood for it, but I didn't really like the characters, although the plot had potential.
Oh well, on to the next one.
Not sure why, but I had high hopes for this book. The plot sounded interesting and I've read the author before, so my expectations were... well, I wouldn't way 'high', but higher than average.
Well, it was boring. Forgettable. Annoying. Overall, meh.
Maybe I just wasn't in the mood for it, but I didn't really like the characters, although the plot had potential.
Oh well, on to the next one.
August 28, 2017
Con men deluxe
Isa, Puo, and Winn are high tech conmen, recently moved to the Seattle Isles from the East Coast after a failed job. The opening scene finds Isa and Winn diving in the underwater remains of the flooded city on a job to raise needed funds to pay costs for setting up their business in the new city.
Interesting plot and characters.
Isa, Puo, and Winn are high tech conmen, recently moved to the Seattle Isles from the East Coast after a failed job. The opening scene finds Isa and Winn diving in the underwater remains of the flooded city on a job to raise needed funds to pay costs for setting up their business in the new city.
Interesting plot and characters.
June 8, 2018
Ok, I gave up on this one. The writing wasn't bad, and some of the underwater descriptions were interesting, but the sci-fi aspects were neglected in my opinion. Also I am not a fan of small-criminal-gang-runs-afoul-of-the-mob stories - which this is - and didn't really like any of the three main characters. Why hang out recreationally with people you don't enjoy? I'm out.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 1, 2021
An interesting twist on a post apocalyptic world. Isa and her crew are thieves scouring the underwater parts of the city of Seattle that have been reclaimed by the ocean. Their caper puts them in conflict with the local crime boss and the story follows how they maneuver to pin the heist on the people who set them up.
May 19, 2021
A good series start. There was a lot of swindling, spying and double crossing going on. I liked the main characters but got a bit bored with the ongoing conflict between two of the main characters. A bit more action would have helped amp up the excitement level a bit but not a bad introductory novel.
May 10, 2025
Noir water
Essentially a crime novel set in future Seattle that has suffered a catastrophic inundation from climate change. Criminals pull off a caper but get in trouble with a crime lord. However things are rather complicated. It is an interesting portrayal of underworld politics.
Essentially a crime novel set in future Seattle that has suffered a catastrophic inundation from climate change. Criminals pull off a caper but get in trouble with a crime lord. However things are rather complicated. It is an interesting portrayal of underworld politics.
January 30, 2021
Isa and her crew break into the undersea Bank of Seattle and steal hard drive
They find out the hard drive belongs to a crime boss when they are hired by the crime boss to find the drive. They discover treachery amongst the thieves.
They find out the hard drive belongs to a crime boss when they are hired by the crime boss to find the drive. They discover treachery amongst the thieves.
February 1, 2021
Intricate and clever
Twists and turns. Deceptions and betrayals abound. A snarky woman and two friends work together in a future world and get into as much trouble as they cause. It all works out in the end. Or does it?
Twists and turns. Deceptions and betrayals abound. A snarky woman and two friends work together in a future world and get into as much trouble as they cause. It all works out in the end. Or does it?
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